Fadiel Adams

Fadiel Adams (born 14 June 1976)^[1] is a South African politician and founder of the National Coloured Congress.^{[citation needed]}

Fadiel Adams
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 June 2024
President of the National Coloured Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office August 2020
Preceded by	Party established
Personal details
Born	Fadiel Adams (1976-06-14) 14 June 1976 (age 49) Retreat, Cape Town, South Africa
Political party	National Coloured Congress (2020–present)
Children	4
Occupation	politician activist

Early life

Adams was the third of six children. His father was a builder and his mother a seamstress. Adams dropped out of school in Grade 11, and got involved in gangsterism and drugs. By age 30, he was homeless and addicted.^[2]

After going clean, Adams worked as a tiler and plumber.^[2]

Politics

Adams got involved in politics in 2018 after the Siqalo riots in Mitchells Plain in 2018. After searching for his brother, who had been arrested, an interview shot him to prominence.^[3] In June 2018, Adams co-founded "Gatvol Capetonian", an organisation which described itself as "a group of gatvol [fed up] Capetonians who are sick of racist B.E.E. policies, poor service delivery and crime".^[4]

In 2020, Adams founded the Cape Coloured Congress and was elected to the Cape Town City Council in the 2021 South African municipal elections.

In 2023, the party renamed itself the National Coloured Congress, intending to contest the 2024 South African general election.^[5] The party won two seats, with Adams elected to national parliament.^[3]

During February and March 2023, Adams made derogatory remarks about City of Cape Town Manager Lungelo Mbandazayo, during Facebook Live broadcasts. The South African Equality Court ruled that Adams' comments were racially offensive, unfair discrimination, hate speech, and harassment. Adams was ordered to apologize to Mbandazayo as a result.^[6]

On 3 July 2025, the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests found Adams guilty of breaching parliament's ethic code following a nine-minute video which he shared on Facebook in February 2025, in which he made derogatory remarks against the Mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis, a female member of the Democratic Alliance and the DA as a party. The committee's report recommended that Adams be reprimanded, suspended from parliament for 15 days, and have his parliamentary salary deducted over the period.^[7] Adams apologised to parliament on 23 July 2025.^[8]